1. Introduction
With the outbreak of a pandemic such as COVID-19, both traditional and entrepreneurial firms have faced serious concerns regarding increased job demands and stress due to unprecedented disruptions [
1,
2]. Stress among entrepreneurs and managers has become quite common in the present situation. Moreover, almost 50–70% of prevailing psychological strains are stress-specific [
3]. Stress can also inversely affect individuals’ and entrepreneurs’ performance abilities [
4]. Previous studies have discussed working conditions, certain leadership styles, and rising job demands as the prime reasons behind increased entrepreneurial stresses. Such stresses usually result from internal and external environment-related indicators, adversely affecting an entrepreneur’s corporate performance [
5]. In post-COVID-19 circumstances, business owners have been forced to opt for digitized operations to cater to consumers’ needs, making their job more demanding [
6]. China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, was hit hardest by the phenomena at hand and it brought jeopardy for entrepreneurs. With such a sudden shift in how operations were to be managed, many entrepreneurs were faced with the stresses of reaching breakeven and avoiding defaults, which ultimately caused compromised entrepreneurial performance across China [
7]. While research on the subject matter is full of contradictory outcomes regarding the impact of stress caused by increasing job demands on entrepreneurs and their businesses [
8], some studies portrayed entrepreneurs as strong enough to bear such stresses and still succeed.
In contrast, other researchers have considered entrepreneurs to be those who have succumbed to the prevailing increased stresses caused by the post-COVID-19-related new normal working conditions [
9,
10]. Therefore, it is vital to explore the association between the variables (entrepreneurial job demands and entrepreneurial job resources) and to look for mitigating strategies to counter such job-bound stresses for entrepreneurs to make them perform [
11]. Apparently, it is evident that stresses of all sorts can affect an individual’s ability to perform, both in personal and professional endeavors. Therefore, the continuous rising job demands and widespread panic caused by COVID-19 have attracted researchers’ interest to probe the phenomena, and its potential to hinder a professional’s performances. In line with the previous studies, this study considered entrepreneurial job demand-bound stresses, which have been detrimental to an entrepreneur’s success. Conversely, others consider entrepreneurs strong enough to sacrifice their self-being to protect their venture’s well-being [
12,
13]. Therefore, it was necessary to start unlocking the entrepreneurial success concept, mainly across China, considering its significance in the overall entrepreneurial global canvas. Still, it is crucial to be mindful that the effect of considered variables on ES is contextual and subjective.
Likewise, for some entrepreneurs, no matter how many changing job demands they face, they remain in a better position to counter such stresses and ensure their venture’s success because of their dynamic personalities. Consequently, studies have conceived factors reflecting increased job demands and entrepreneurial stress (i.e., increased workload, pressing deadlines, nonexistent leadership, poor work atmosphere, conflicts, a negligible delegation of authority, etc.). In line with these studies, an entrepreneur’s well-being, enablers, and consequences have lately attracted researchers’ attention. This study intended to examine the impact of increased entrepreneurial job demands on work stresses and its inverse impact on an entrepreneur’s success [
14,
15,
16].
Therefore, to bridge the empirical gap, where studies have mainly shown entrepreneurs who endure all the hardships and do not face stress, this study tests the impact of increasing entrepreneurial job demands on entrepreneurs’ stress levels and then the impact of stress on their performance outcomes. Additionally, this study propagates that it is equally important to realize that along with increasing job demands, this COVID-19 pandemic has also brought specific resources (i.e., digital technologies) which have eliminated the element of space and time and have engaged entrepreneurs with their jobs even more. Therefore, this study tested another empirical gap by examining the impact of entrepreneurial job resources on an entrepreneur’s work engagement and the engagement effects on an entrepreneur’s performance. There has been a recent rising interest among researchers in examining the effect of entrepreneurial engagement on individual and organizational performance levels [
17]. According to job demand–resource (JD–R) theory, job resources have more comparative potential to promote work engagement than increasing job demands. Therefore, JD–R theory is this study’s primary underpinning interpretive lens to formulate the conceptual, empirical model [
18].
Along with the inconclusive insights on the impact of entrepreneurial job demands on entrepreneurial stress levels, this study will address the empirical gaps by testing the impact of entrepreneurial job resources and job demands on job stress and work entrepreneurial engagement, respectively. At the same time, previous studies have primarily failed to test the interrelationship between the above-stated constructs [
19]. Hence, the central question has been whether entrepreneurial job resources are the antecedent to entrepreneurial work engagements across multiple jobs and entrepreneurial settings. It will also be of theoretical and practical use to test the simultaneous impact of entrepreneurial job demands on job stress and entrepreneurial job resources on work engagement across multiple operational and contextual settings within the Chinese entrepreneurial spectrum [
20].
5. Discussions
This study has examined entrepreneurial job demands, job stress, entrepreneurial job resources, and entrepreneurial work engagement to examine their impact on entrepreneurial success empirically. This study’s findings confirmed the significant positive impact of rising entrepreneurial job demands on job stress, followed by the inverse impact of job stress on entrepreneurial success [
98,
99]. Likewise, the results validated the positive impact of entrepreneurial job resources on entrepreneurial work engagement and ES, followed by the positive impact of work engagement on entrepreneurial success. This study also tested the mediating role of work-related stress and work engagement on the relationship between JD–R and entrepreneurial success. At the same time, the results indicated only the positive mediating role of entrepreneurial work engagement, followed by the inverse mediating role of work-related stress, especially in the case of entrepreneurs across China. In the present post-COVID-19 era of hyper-digitization and increased competition, entrepreneurs are psychologically strained to achieve success. Therefore, there was a critical need to validate the relationship between the constructs used here to assist entrepreneurs and policymakers in taking meaningful actions for improved outcomes concerning entrepreneurs [
94]. These results align with previous studies that consider job demands as job expectations, which usually include excessive time pressure, adverse working conditions, and increased workload. The results are in congruence with earlier investigations that have found the negative impact of increased job demands on an individual’s job satisfaction and performance. However, the present study’s findings have empirical novelty, along with the contextual one, where the combination of variables used was primarily tested in the Chinese market context.
While, with such increased job stress, the leader or manager must provide their workers with proper job resources to help them endure all the hardships inflicted by increased workload [
98,
99]. Proactive thinking on the part of entrepreneurs will also help them, to manage certain important elements of job training, to arrange technological facilities and to align monetary incentives to keep workers engaged, and to assist in improving overall entrepreneurial success [
94]. Similarly, this study tested the relationship between entrepreneurial job resources and entrepreneurial work engagement. One must be mindful that with increased available resources (both tangible/intangible and financial/non-financial), entrepreneurs feel more motivated to perform, which promotes their increased engagement with the tasks they perform. Resultantly, such an increased work performance helps achieve increased entrepreneurial success. Likewise, previous studies have favored resource-based interventions and their role in generating entrepreneurial success. Therefore, this study gives readers a better understanding of the factors contributing to overall entrepreneurial business success. Other studies have also agreed on the significant role of the timely availability of resources in promoting work engagement and business success.
Likewise, with competitive corporate pressures, entrepreneurs are also faced with increased job demands because consumers these days have become demanding. It also requires entrepreneurs to be more engaged with their jobs, producing products and services that hold their creative content and enable entrepreneurs to perform better [
80]. At the same, it is essential to understand that this increased competition and power of consumers have resulted in specific psychological pressures for entrepreneurs, which cause entrepreneurial job stress [
100]. Furthermore, with busy minds and stresses, it becomes difficult for entrepreneurs to perform up to the mark. Therefore, with the above-stated findings, this study holds some meaningful implications (i.e., both practical and theoretical) for practitioners and academicians to dig deep into the elements affecting an entrepreneur’s success.
5.1. Theoretical Implications
The massive increase in competitive pressure posed by post-COVID-19 dynamics has brought businesses to a unique but daunting situation. Entrepreneurs compete for survival, and with most of them going bankrupt, few have stood firm against this severe medical, social, and economic calamity. It is where researchers have focused on assessing certain aspects concerning entrepreneurship, which hold the potential for both causing failures and ensuring success for them (if managed). At the same time, this study adds to the list of existing empirical studies by considering the impact of both e-job demands and e-job resources on entrepreneurial success for Chinese entrepreneurs simultaneously. This study looks into the impact of job stress posed by the post-COVID-19 change. Therefore, the present study has much to offer to researchers and practitioners within and beyond China, where they can use the tested concepts for managing aspects concerning the anxiety level of entrepreneurs, ensuring their prosperity. It also propagates that by providing entrepreneurs with sufficient resources to keep their businesses on track, one can significantly maintain their interest in the business.
Similarly, it also sheds light on the fact that though digitization is often considered a valuable tool for operational efficiency, it can instantly become a source of stress for managers at work. The same has happened in the post-COVID-19 era of abrupt digitization, where businesses were forced to shut down due to government precautionary measures. It caused severe disruptions for businesses, giving birth to the unique concept of working from home, which meant 24/7 availability of the business for their customers. On the one hand, it worked in favor of customers. On the other hand, it increased psychological pressure for entrepreneurs, where some felt it was an invasion of their personal lives, while others resisted this change because of their personality and competency-related concerns. Likewise, literature [
101] has also talked about the inhibiting role of multiple stressors, for overall firm’s performance. Anyhow, the present situation added to the job stress for most business owners. In line with the present argument, this study is very relevant and will assist entrepreneurs in understanding how serious the repercussions of entrepreneurial job stress can be for their overall success. Therefore, this study has a visible and apparent theoretical implication for the researcher’s future empirical pursuits.
5.2. Practical and Managerial Implications
The findings of the present study hold several practically meaningful implications for practitioners, researchers, and entrepreneurs, looking for factors both positively and negatively affecting entrepreneurs’ success in China and worldwide. Furthermore, with the rising Chinese digital economy and increased consumer power, factors causing stress for entrepreneurs have also been rising, and increased stress usually inversely affects an entrepreneur’s performance. Therefore, future entrepreneurs and firms with a corporate entrepreneurial mindset will have to understand that such rising entrepreneurial job demands are causing stress for managers and entrepreneurs, which, if not managed, will adversely affect their chances to succeed. Other researchers have also agreed with this study’s results that the increased psychological stressors felt by entrepreneurs and business owners because of rising job demands are regarded as the antecedent of decreased entrepreneurial success.
On the other hand, this study has practical implications for policymakers that, with facilities, resources, and support, entrepreneurs will perform comparatively better. It also reflects that one can achieve increased entrepreneurial engagement with increased resources, positively affecting entrepreneurial success. Therefore, policymakers need to provide entrepreneurs and business owners with sufficient resources to increase their interest in the job they have to perform, which will help them perform better. Previous studies have also discussed the significance of work engagement as a principal antecedent of an entrepreneur’s success. In the same way, it is propagated that entrepreneurs must be engaged through both traditional and nontraditional resources for better performance outcomes.
6. Conclusions
The post-COVID-19 era of increased competitive pressure, dynamic working conditions, and uncontrolled digitization has brought entrepreneurs to a fix, where they need to meet the changing market demands to succeed. In this regard, this study added to the body of knowledge and provided entrepreneurs with updated novel insights on the effects of increased job demands (JD) on job-related stress, followed by the impact of job stress on an entrepreneur’s success. Increased consumer and organizational demands have increased the performance pressure on entrepreneurs, which has caused undue stress for them. Therefore, empirical studies must be pursued to address and validate the above-stated proposed relationships. Likewise, researchers and practitioners alternatively call for looking into the other side of the same coin (i.e., job resources), provided by apparently adverse post-COVID-19 circumstances. Therefore, this study simultaneously responded to the alternative empirical gap by testing the impact of increased job resources (JR) on an entrepreneur’s work engagement, followed by investigating the impact of work engagement (WE) on entrepreneurial success.
Researchers [
102] had contradictory viewpoints on how COVID-19-bound working conditions impact an entrepreneur’s potential to succeed. Therefore, this study must be of monumental practical and empirical aid to those managing their business ventures. Likewise, this study also validated that entrepreneurs have been provided with additional resources (i.e., Ever dynamic, information technology) along with increased job demands. Such resources have kept them engaged within their businesses 24/7, irrespective of the limitations of time and space, enabling them to perform in a much-improved manner. Hence, future researchers and business individuals can fruitfully use these study results at hand and positively ensure their and their employees’ engagement by reducing their stress levels to achieve the desired level of entrepreneurial success.
7. Limitations and Future Research
Despite diligently exploring the phenomena at hand, this study has faced certain limitations, which, if looked into, would set the tone for future research endeavors. Firstly, this study opted for a cross-sectional data collection technique through the quantitative methodology. Therefore, it proposes that future researchers try unlocking the phenomena of work engagement and work-related stress that entrepreneurs feel through longitudinal, qualitative techniques. It will help them generate results in two different time slots and will help increase the generalizability of the research findings. Secondly, this study used a couple of mediating constructs (i.e., work-related stress and work engagement). Future research must opt for other mediating constructs to further explore the phenomena of entrepreneurial success. Lastly, the present study did not use any contingent or moderating construct. Therefore, it is suggested that researchers consider bringing certain moderating variables within the present empirical formation to validate further or strengthen the output generated.